Pigskin and Population: America’s 15 Fastest-Growing College Football Towns

Could the Auburn University football team’s national championship in the 2010-11 season have played a part in the recent population spike for the Auburn, AL, metro area?

From July 2010 to July 2014, the Auburn area’s population rose almost 10 percent, according to a LawnStarter study of U.S. Census Bureau data. The nearly double-digit rate makes the Auburn area the fastest-growing college football hub in the U.S., our analysis shows.

To come up with this ranking, LawnStarter examined the 2010-2014 population growth of every U.S. metro area that hosts an NCAA Division I FBS football team. For purposes of this analysis, we weeded out any metro area that had at least 1 million residents in 2014 so that we could keep the spotlight on regions where college sports truly are dominant.

‘Small-Town Charm’

Although Auburn hasn’t been ranked No. 1 in this season’s college football polls, it did end up grabbing the top spot in our ranking. From 2010 to 2014, the Auburn area gained more than 13,000 residents — and, presumably, more Auburn Tigers fans. Would a ’Bama or Georgia diehard dare move to the home of Toomer’s Corner?

So, what’s the appeal of Auburn?

“Auburn manages to maintain small-town charm while offering the amenities of a larger city,” says Jennifer Fincher, vice president of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

“Besides being home to one of the best colleges in the South, we offer excellent K-12 schools, a growing industrial base, an award-winning hospital, gorgeous weather and an involved, caring community,” adds Fincher, who moved from Pennsylvania to Alabama in 2004. “Students want to stay and their parents come to retire. And who can argue with the draw of year-round college sports?”

Fastest-Growing College Football Towns

Here’s our list of the 15 fastest-growing college football towns in America.